Supernal SerpentSupernal Serpent Mysteries of Leviathan in Judaism and Christianity ANDREI A. ORLOV OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESSOXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford University Press isa department ofthe University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford isa registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America, © Oxford University Press 2023 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted bylaw, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. ‘You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. CIP data is on file atthe Library of Congress ISBN 978-0-19-768414-6 DOI: 10.1093/0s0/9780197684146.001.0001 Printed by Integrated Books International, United States of AmericaMichael Schneider, in memoriamSupernal sea serpents abide above—those who are blessed, as is said: God blessed them (Gen 1:22). Zohar 11.27bContents Preface Abbreviations Introduction 1. Leviathan’s Theophany 1.1 The “Likeness of Heaven” and Chaos’ Epiphany 1.2. Leviathan’s Theophany in the Book of Job 1.3. Leviathan’s Theophany in Later Jewish Accounts 1.4 Leviathan’s Theophany in Early Christian Accounts 1.4.1 Antagonists and the Leviathan Tradition 1.4.1.1, Dragon and Leviathan 1.4.1.2 Two Beasts: Leviathan and Behemoth? 1.4.2 Divine Features of the Antagonists 1.4.3 Leviathan’s Features of the Protagonists 1.4.3.1 The Two Witnesses 1.43.2 The Son of Man's Sash 2. Leviathan as the Axis Mundi 2.1 Background: Antagonist as a Cosmological Foundation in Early Judaism 2.1.1 Arukhas as the Dark Foundation in 2 Enoch 2.1.2. The Fallen Watchers as Cosmological Pillars in the Book of the Watchers 2.1.3 Satan and the Adamatine Pillar 2.2. Ancient West Asian and Early Jewish Traditions about Monsters as the Axis Mundi 2.2.1 Ancient West Asian Materials 2.2.2 Biblical Accounts 2.2.3 Pseudepigraphical Accounts Rabbinic and Later Jewish Mystical Accounts about Leviathan as the Axis Mundi . 2.4 Islamic Traditions about Leviathan as the Axis Mundi 2.5. The Axis Mundi Tradition in the Apocalypse of Abraham 2.5.1 ‘The Motif of the Tormenting Abyss 2.5.1.1 The Monster's Prison 25.1.2 Leviathan and Hades 2. be 47 47 53 Ld 57 75 82 89 90 91viii CONTENTS 2.5.2. The Motif of Leviathan’s Abode 2.1 The Seaand Its Islands 25.2.2 Leviathan’ Holding 2.5.2.3 Leviathan’ Channels 2.5.3. The Motif of Leviathan as the Axis Mundi 2.5.3.1 Leviathan’ Liminality 2.5.3.2. Leviathan as a Destructive Force 2.5.4 Leviathan and Overflowing Rivers 25.4.1 Lying upon the Waters 2.5.4.2 Locking the Abyss with Leviathan’s Fin(s) 25.4.3. Swallowing Waters ‘The Motif of Watery Circles: Leviathan as the Circuitus Mundi .5.6 Leviathan and Eden 2.6 Conclusion 3. Leviathan and Yahoel 3.1 Introduction 3.2. The Tradition of the Multiple Leviathans 3.2.1 Behemoth and Leviathan asa Pair 3.2.2. The Tradition of Two Leviathans 3.3 Rivalries of the Hayyot and the Combat between Behemoth and Leviathan 3.3.1 The Monsters’ Rivalry in Later Jewish Accounts 3.3.2 The Lion and the Ox 3.4 Yahoel and Leviathan 3.4.1 The Antecedents of Yahoel’s Constraining Role in the Ancient ‘West Asian and Jewish Materials 3.4.1.1 Marduk 3.4.1.2 Baal 3.4.1.3 Raphael 3.4.1.4 Gabriel 3.4.1.5 The’Elim 3.4.1.6 God 3.5 Yahoel’s Control of the Monsters 3.5.1 Yahoel as the Hypostasis of the Divine Name 3.5.1.1 Yahoel and the Angel of the Lord Traditions 3.5.1.2 Yahoel’s Clothing with the Name 3.5.1.3. Yahoel as the Personification of the Tetragrammaton? 3.5.2 Yahoel as the “Power” 3.5.3 Yahoel as the Embodiment of God's Glory 3.5.4 Leviathan as a Divine Warrior: Traditions about Leviathan’s Glory 94 96 97 101 103 106 lo9 110 ll 112 116 120 122 125 125 127 129 133 137 138 142 146 147 147 159 162 165 169 177 177 179 181 182 183 187 189CONTENTS 4, Leviathan and the Temple 4.1 Temple of Creation 4.2. Waters of the Sacred Courtyard 4.3 The Chambers of the Macrocosmic Temple 4.4 The Veil of the Cosmological Sanctuary 4,5 Leviathan as the Foundation Stone 4.6 Cosmological Temple and Leviathan’s Role as the Circuitus Mundi 4,7 The High Priest as the Eschatological Adam 4.8 High Priest Yahoel and Leviathan 5. Leviathan and the Mysteries of Evil 5.1 Mysteries of Evil in Judaism 5.2 The Mysteries of the Chariot and the Mysteries of the Monsters 5.3 Revelation of the Monsters’ Corporealities and Shi‘ur Qomah Traditions 5.4 Eschatological Consumption of the Monsters as a Revelation of Mysteries 5.4.1 Eschatological Feeding on the Monsters in Biblical, Pseudepigraphical, and Rabbinic Accounts 5.4.2 Acquisition of the Divine Mysteries through Feeding 5.4.3 Mysteries of the Monsters and the Heavenly Manna 5.5. Eschatological Beholding of the Monsters as a Revelation of Mysteries Ontological Acquisition of the Divine Mysteries and Ancient Epistemology 5.7 Beholding of and Feeding on the Monsters as the Revelation of the Eschatological Torah 5.8 Descent into Leviathan’s Domain as Acquisition of Mysteries 5.8.1 Abraham and Leviathan 5.8.2 Jonah and Leviathan 5.8.3 Mosesand the “Serpents” 5.8.4 Jesus and Dragons 5.9 The Emulation of Leviathan and the Journey into the Mysteries of the Other Side 5. a Conclusion Bibliography Index ix 191 191 194 199 202 210 214 220 224 229 229 233 242 245 245 251 258 262 265 269 279 280 283 289 293 302 313 315 343Preface Several people helped me in my work on this project. I am grateful to my research assistants, Paul Cox, Caleb Douglas, Elizabeth Schick, and Sam Turpin, who worked diligently through different versions of the manuscript to help improve the text in both style and substance. Their meticulous editing has saved me from numerous errors. But all remaining mistakes are solely my own responsibility. Iam thankful to Yisroel Cohen, John Cook, Alexander Kulik, Basil Lourié, Sergey Minoy, Arye Olman, Nikolai Seleznyoy, and Michael Stone for their help in clarifying many conceptual and philological issues. I would like to express my appreciation to Steve Wiggins, editor at Oxford University Press, for his help and support during the acquisition process. I am also thankful to two anonymous reviewers who provided constructive comments that helped significantly improve the manuscript. Last but not least, I offer my sincere thanks to Zara Cannon-Mohammed of Oxford University Press and Koperundevi Pugazhenthi of Newgen Knowledge Works for their diligent support and patient professionalism during the preparation of this book for publication. I dedicate this book to the memory of Michael (Misha) Schneider (1957- 2020) who was taken so unexpectedly from us in the middle of his profound journey into the mysteries of Creation and the mysteries of the Chariot. About people like Misha the Scripture says: “But as for you, go on to the end; you shall rest, and arise to your destiny at the end of the days” (Dan 12:13). Andrei A. Orlov Milwaukee The Feast of the Holy Theophany, 2022AAT AB AGAJU AIBA AJEC AS] AJSLL AnBib ANRW AOAT ArBib BAR BBB BETL BJSUC BNTC BRev BRL] BS|S BTS cBQ CBQMS CEL CRINT csco DSD EB EBib EdF EJL EstBib FAT FC Gus HNT Abbreviations Agypten und Altes Testament Anchor Bible Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums Australian Journal of Biblical Archaeology Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity Association for Jewish Studies Journal American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures Analecta biblica Aufstieg und Niedergang der rémischen Welt Alter Orient und Altes Testament ‘The Aramaic Bible Biblical Archaeology Review Bonner Biblische Beitrage Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium Biblical and Judaic Studies of the University of California Black’s New Testament Commentaries Bible Review Brill Reference Library of Judaism Brill’s Series in Jewish Studies Biblical Tools and Studies Catholic Biblical Quarterly Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium Dead Sea Discoveries Eichstatter Beitriige Etudes bibliques Ertrge der Forschung Early Judaism and Its Literature Estudios biblicos Forschungen zum Alten Testament Fathers of the Church Gorgias Ugaritic Studies Handbuch zum Neuen Testamentxiv ABBREVIATIONS HR HSM HSS HTR HUCA ICC IE] RT JAAR JBL JBLMS JCP JCTCRS JESOT JIS yTP INES INSL JPOS JOR JSHRZ Js} SSS ISIT JSNTSS JSOT JSOTSS JSP ISQ JSRI JSS Ju History of Religions Harvard Semitic Monographs Harvard Semitic Studies Harvard Theological Review Hebrew Union College Annual International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments Israel Exploration Journal Issues in Religion and Theology Journal of the American Academy of Religion Journal of Biblical Literature Journal of Biblical Literature Monograph Series Jewish and Christian Perspectives Jewish and Christian Texts in Context and Related Studies Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament Journal of Jewish Studies Journal of Jewish Though and Philosophy Journal of Near Eastern Studies Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society Jewish Quarterly Review Jiidische Schriften aus hellenistisch-rémischer Zeit Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period. Supplement Series Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought Journal for the Study of the New Testament. Supplement Series Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. Supplement Series Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Jewish Studies Quarterly Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies Journal of Semitic Studies Judentum und Umwelt Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt Loeb Classical Library Library of Second Temple Studies Mesopotamian Civilizations Monatsschrift fir Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies Nag Hammadi StudiesNovT NovTSup NSBT NTOA OBC OBO ORA PEQ PVTG QD RB RBS RED RevQ RHPR RRI SBLDS SBLSP SBLSS SBLTT sc SE SECA SGTK SHR SJ SyJTP sjs SOTBT SSLIM SSN STDJ svc SVTP TBN TCS TED TS TSAJ TSMEMJ ucOP UF ABBREVIATIONS XV Novum Testamentum Supplements to Novum Testamentum New Studies in Biblical Theology Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus Orientalia biblica et christiana Orbis biblicus et orientalis Orientalische Religionen in der Antike Palestine Exploration Quarterly Pseudepigrapha Veteris Testamenti Graece Quaestiones disputatae Revue Biblique Resources for Biblical Study Revue des études juives Revue de Qumran Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses Review of Rabbinic Judaism Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers SBL Symposium Series Society of Biblical Literature Texts and Translations Sources Chrétiennes Studia evangelica Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha Studien zur Geschichte der Theologie und der Kirche Studies in the History of Religions Studia Judaica Supplements to the Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy Studia Judaeoslavica Studies in Old Testament Biblical Theology Sources and Studies in the Literature of Jewish Mysticism Studia semitica neerlandica Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha Themes in Biblical Narrative Text-Critical Studies Translations of Early Documents ‘Theological Studies ‘Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum ‘Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism University of Cambridge Oriental Publications Ugarit Forschungenxvi ABBREVIATIONS UUA vc VT VTSup WBC WMANT WUNT W2KM YS ZAW ZDMG ZDPV 2KT 2M ZNW Uppsala Universitets Arsskrift Vigiliae Christianae Vetus Testamentum Supplements to Vetus Testamentum Word Biblical Commentary Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament ‘Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Wiener Zeitschrift fitr die Kunde des Morgenlandes Yale Judaica Series Zeitschrift fiir die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft Zeitschrift des deutschen Paldstina-Vereins Zeitschrift fiir katholische Theologie Zrédta i monografie Zeitschrift fiir die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der dlteren Kirche Soo Wied townusinduast?, shes Sita vt) degen is so naeIntroduction Allother animals and beasts kill and rend to satisfy their hunger and for pleasure, while the snake does not bite to satisfy its hunger or for pleasure. This hints to us that when an action is altruistic, great things can come of it, Thus, only as a consequence of being cursed was the snake prevented from being useful. . . . As the snake after being cursed has become an instrument of unclothed revelation of judgment, we can deduce that if it had not been cursed, the good it would have brought would have been an equally great good. It would have been supernaturally good. Kalonymus Kalman Shapira Esh Kodesh Sabbatai Sevi (1626-1676), a seventeenth-century CE Jewish messianic claimant, and his followers, including Nathan of Gaza (1643-1680), believed that in order to redeem creation the messiah must reveal himself as Nahash HaKadosh—the Holy Serpent. This eschatological agent “will take the strength of the piercing serpent and the strength of the crooked serpent,” two primordial monsters” that are identified by Isa 27:1 as Leviathans.? According 'G. Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah 1626-1676 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973) 225. his idea was not a Sabbatian invention, however. Scholem points out that “the idea that the serpent-messiah would destroy the evil serpent is expressed as early as the 13th century by R, Isaac Kohen of Soria in Spain.” Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 308, 7 1 use the term “monster” here and in other parts of my study because this term has been often used in scholarly literature for description of Leviathan, However, as Tyler Smith points out, “the an- cient world did not have a concept or category that matches the modern idea ofthe ‘monster’ in every respect, although it did have a sprawling catalogue of hybrid, uncanny, and terrible creatures known both from the worlds of myth and lived experience, We also find a metadiscourse on monsters from at least the time of Aristotle” T. Smith, “Monster Theory and Anti-Judaism in the Gospel of John” Journal of Religion and Culture 28 (2019): 156-177 at 17107. * Isa 27:1 reads: “On that day the Lord with his cruel and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.” This understanding of Leviathan as a “serpent” (WT) is important for our study since in ‘Supermal Serpent. Andrei A. Orlov, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2023, DOI: 10.1 093/0s0/97801 976841 46.01.0001xviii INTRODUCTION to Nathan of Gaza, both serpents have resided along with the messiah in the depth of the great abyss since the beginning of time.‘ In line with his para- doxical messianic claims, Sevi used the sign of a crooked serpent as his sig- nature.® Such an emphasis on the primordial monsters’ importance in the economy of final redemption, of course, is not an invention of Sabbatianism but a tradition with ancient roots. In Jewish lore, for instance, one can see a pronounced accent on the monsters’ pivotal role in the eschatological resto- ration as early as the pseudepigraphical writings of 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, and the Book of the Similitudes, all of which postulate that the righteous will feed on Behemoth and Leviathan’s flesh at the end of time.° In contrast to these apoc- alyptic accounts, two other early Jewish pseudepigraphons—the Apocalypse of Abraham and the Ladder of Jacob—do not mention an eschatological feast on the monsters’ bodies.” Instead, they prefer to emphasize Leviathan's cosmological significance and his place in the structure of the universe by depicting him as the axis mundi Although the mythological symbolism of these apocalyptic stories differs strikingly from the Sabbatian theosophical speculations, the motifs about Leviathan’s function as the foundation of the universe may also play a part in Sabbatai Sevi’s understanding of the mes- siah as the Holy Serpent. Such traditions did not come to the members of rabbinic and later Jewish mystical accounts the discussions about Leviathan will often take the form of speculation about the “serpent” 4 Scholem points out that according to Nathan of Gaza’s Treatise on the Dragons “since the be- ginning of time, the redeemer dwelt in the great deep, together with the serpents that tormented him and tried to entice him to betray his faith.” Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 308. On the messiah as the Holy Serpent, see also E. R. Wolfson, Venturing Beyond: Law and Morality in Kabbalistic Mysticism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) 142n53. 5 Scholem notes that “we do know that Sabbatai signed his letters with the figure of a crooked ser- pent after his name, The meaning ofthe symbol is obvious: it isthe ‘holy serpent, the numerical value of which was equal to that of the Hebrew word mashiah (‘messiah’): Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 235. Nathaniel Berman also points out that “the equivalence between the messiah and the serpent, rein- forced by their numerical equivalence (358 = 1?Wn = WM) were influential in Sabbatean and post- Sabbatean texts.” N, Berman, Divine and Demonic in the Poetic Mythology of the Zohar: The “Other Side” of Kabbalah (Leiden: Brill, 2018) 104-105, On this, see also Wolfson, Venturing Beyond, 176. © Some argue that the early roots of this motif can already be found in Ps 74:13~ 14: "You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness,” All biblical quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) unless otherwise indicated. 7 On the Jewish apocalypticism and its antagonistic imagery, see A. Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1984); E. Wasserman, Apocalypse as Holy War: Divine Politics and Polemics in the Letters of Paul (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library; New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018); A. A. Orlov, Demons of Change: Antagonism and Apotheosis in Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism (Albany: SUNY, 2020). ® Lat. “the axis of the world” Mircea Eliade defines axis mundi as an entity that “is regarded as the meeting point of heaven, earth, and hell” M. Eliade, The Myth of the ternal Return (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1971) 16,INTRODUCTION xix the Sabbatian movement directly from Jewish pseudepigraphical accounts but from various writings circulating in their own milieu. Indeed, the lore about Leviathan as a pivotal axis of the universe received significant atten- tion in various Jewish mystical materials, especially in the Book of Zohar and Lurianic Kabbalah, a legacy on which Sabbatai Sevi and Nathan of Gaza relied for their understanding of the messianic Holy Serpent.’ In these later accounts, one can frequently detect a peculiar parallelism between Leviathan and the righteous one (tsadik), both of whom are predestined to serve as the pillars of the world.!9 Thetraditions found in the Apocalypse of Abraham are of particular interest in this respect since they offer one of the earliest testimonies about Leviathan as the foundation of the universe. Despite the importance of this develop- ment for later Jewish mystical traditions, the Leviathan imagery found in the Apocalypse of Abraham has rarely been explored in depth. Monographs and commentaries on this Jewish apocalypse typically devote just a few sentences to this enigmatic symbolism, and they do so without exploring broader con- ceptual parallels, especially ones found in rabbinic literature. Yet, as our study will later demonstrate, the monsters’ traditions found in the Apocalypse of Abraham reveal several important exegetical dimensions that are pivotal for understanding the overall theology of this apocalypse. There are two clusters of traditions about the monsters in the Apocalypse of Abraham. The first one is found in Apoc, Ab. 10:8-11, where the angel Yahoel informs Abraham about his role as the controlling force over the Leviathan(s). The second cluster is situated in Apoc, Ab. 21:1-6, where Abraham beholds Leviathan in his vision and learns about the monster’s pivotal role as the foundation of the universe. Scholars have previously suggested that the depictions are interconnected. Since Apoc, Ab. 21 provides the bulk of the information about Leviathan, we will begin our study with the exploration of this nexus of the monster's traditions. The first chapter of our study will explore the depiction of Leviathan in Apoc. Ab. 21, paying spe- cial attention to the theophanic features of the monster and their connec- tion with biblical and rabbinic understandings of Leviathan’s apparitions as ° Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 235, On the imagery of the taninim in the Lurianic and Sabbatian developments, see also T. Rubin, “Derush ha-taninim” le-R. Yosef Ibn Tabul (PhD diss., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1985) 22-86 (Hebrew); Y. Liebes, The Secret of the Sabbatian Faith (Jerusalem: Mossad Biyalik, 1995) 175-177 (Hebrew). '0Y. Liebes, Studies in the Zohar (trs. A. Schwartz et al; Albany: SUNY, 1993) 17.XX INTRODUCTION theophanies,"! The second chapter of the book will continue this close inves- tigation of the Leviathan tradition by attending to Leviathan’s role as the axis mundi. The third chapter of our study will deal with the traditions reflected in chapter 10 of the Apocalypse of Abraham, where Yahoel is portrayed as the restraining force over the Leviathan(s). This part of our study will explore the various roles and offices of Yahoel that help him to control the dangerous monsters, including his role as the personification of the divine Name and his office of the divine warrior. The fourth chapter of our study will deal with the cultic significance of Leviathan as the sacred courtyard of the cosmological sanctuary and the Foundation Stone of the Temple of Creation. The emphasis on the sac- erdotal role of the sea monster appears not to be coincidental in the Apocalypse of Abraham written shortly after the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple amid the challenging efforts to preserve and perpetuate cultic practices in the absence of an earthly sanctuary. The idea of a cosmo- logical temple with its sacred courtyard in the form of a primordial mon- ster provides a sacerdotal alternative that allowed Jewish apocalypticists to perpetuate their cultic vision, even when the earthly Temple was no longer standing. Such a perspective held sway over the course of millennia, as one can detect remnants of this vision even in later Jewish mystical accounts, in- cluding traditions found in the Book of Zohar. Yet the conceptual roots of this powerful sacerdotal alternative can be traced back to early biblical materials, including the vision of the celestial chariot in the Book of Ezekiel, where the catastrophic destruction of the terrestrial sanctuary is given meaning through the cosmological sacerdotal abode. Finally, in the fifth chapter of our study we will delve into the special role that the revelations about Leviathan play in Abraham’ initiation and trans- formation. Here we will explore the significance of the mysteries about Leviathan and Behemoth in Jewish esoteric lore. Overall, this study can be seen as an attempt to explore various aspects of the Leviathan lore found in several Jewish and Christian texts through the lens of the monsters’ tradition found in the Apocalypse of Abraham. \ The term “theophany” “derived from the Greek (Hed, god: palvety, to show forth, to be re- vealed) ... means an appearance of God to man” J, T. Burtchaell, “Theophany” in: New Catholic Encyclopedia (2nd ed. 15 vols Deitroit: Gale, 2003) 13.929.1 Leviathan’s Theophany A certain king built himself a palace and summoned two persons to decorate it for him, The king divided his palace into two parts, put- ting one person in charge of one half and the second in charge of the other. One of the persons decorated his part of the palace with beau- tiful paintings of birds and animals, But the second person painted his half of the palace with black dye which was reflecting everything like a mirror. When the king came to judge the two decorations, everything he had seen in the first person's part he also saw in the second’s part, since it was reflected in its black dye like in a mirror. Not only that, but evenall the king could wish to putin the first half of his palace appeared in the second half. This found favor in the eyes of the king. Hayyei Moharan R. Joseph the son of R. Joshua b. Levi became ill and fell into a trance. When he recovered, his father asked him, “What did you see?” “I saw a topsy-turvy world,” he replied, “the upper underneath and the lower on top? “My son? he observed, “you sawa clear world? b, Pesahim 50a 1.1 The “Likeness of Heaven” and Chaos’ Epiphany ‘The Apocalypse of Abraham has traditionally been divided into two parts: the first haggadic part of the text, which depicts the patriarch as a fighter against the “idolatrous” statues of his father Terah, and the second apocalyptic part, which occupies the rest of the pseudepigraphon.! The bulk of the second sec- tion, which begins in chapter 21 of the text, encompasses a lengthy revelation ! On the date and provenance of the Apocalypse of Abraham, see G. H. Box and J. I. Landsman, ‘The Apocalypse of Abraham: Edited, with a Translation from the Slavonic Text and Notes (TED, 1.10; London, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1918) xv-xix; B, Philonenko-Sayar and M. Philonenko, Apocalypse dAbraham: Introduction, texte slave, traduction et notes (Semitica, 31; Paris: Librairie Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1981) 34~35;R. Rubinkiewicz and H. Lunt, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” in: The ‘Supemal Serpent Andrel A, Oriov, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2023. OI: 10.1093/0s0/9780197684146,003.00012. SUPERNAL SERPENT about the structure of creation and human history. This disclosure reveals one of the most unusual visionary arrangements in early Jewish apocalyptic literature, in which God orders Abraham, who is standing near the deity’s throne, to look beneath his feet and contemplate creation. The apocalypse then portrays Abraham as looking at the expanse beneath his feet and beholding what the text calls the “likeness of heaven.” This reference to the “likeness of heaven” (Slav. noyo6ve He6a)? has baffled many scholars‘ be- cause the authors of the Apocalypse of Abraham appear to associate a vision of the primordial monster, Leviathan, with the “resemblance of heaven” Apoc. Ab. 21:1-6 unveils the following visionary account: And he said tome, “Look now beneath your feet at the expanse and contem- plate the creation which was previously covered over. On this level there is the creation and those who inhabit it and the age that has been Prepared to follow it” And I looked beneath the expanse at my feet and I saw the like- ness of heaven and what was therein, And [I saw] there the earth and its fruits, and its moving ones, and its spiritual ones, and its host of men and their spiritual impieties, and their justifications, and the pursuits of their works, and the abyss and its torment, and its lower depths, and the perdi- tion which is init. And I saw there the sea and its island, and its animals and its fishes, and Leviathan and his domain, and his lair, and his dens, and the world which lies upon him, and his motions and the destruction of the world because of him. I saw there the rivers and their overflows, and their circles. And I saw there the tree of Eden and its fruit, and the spring, the river flowing from it, and its trees and their flowering, and I saw those who act righteously. And I saw in it their food and rest $ 683;R. bikin, LApocalypse dAbraham en vieux slave: «! commentaire (2M, 129; Lublin; Towarzystwo Navkon ego Uniwersyt 1987) 70-73; A. Kulik, *K dairovke‘Otkroven Avrara h aesee aelep, ‘ fa. Retaiceatvinnlk and Je. 1. Vaneeva; St. Petersburg. Fenlle, 1997) 189-195 (Russian); A. Kulile Retr : Toward the Ap ‘Abraham (1 a crmertng Slovo a sudepigrapha: Toward the Original ofthe Apocl ypse of Abraham (TCS, 3; 1 Kulik: Retroverting Slavonic Pseudeplgrapha 26, ay eal onenko-Sayar and Philonenko,ZApocalypse dAbrahams: Introduction, texte slave, traduction * See, eg, Hor ” ee * . . race Lunt’s comment in Rubinkiewicz and Lunt, “Apocalypse of Abraham? 1,681— Retroverting Slavonic Pseudepigrapha, 26. ‘The Slavonic text 7 sone, Ran . Ic text reads: “M peu(e) xo Taps. He ee tut Mon HosB caox Ha npoctepmne in Pesybu Hint apBone criuopanyio rome TBADS M cyuaR W Hex Ho Hem yroroonen: 2 "OW MPOCTEPrHe HoAEHOe X SHRED nOROGHe MlG)ea sxe 8 Hews: H ry seune 4 oP anLEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY 3 ‘The spatial arrangement of Abraham's vision and the peculiar designation of the underworld as “the likeness of heaven” may suggest that Leviathan’s realm somehow paradoxically corresponds with the realities of the divine abode in the mind of the apocalypse’s authors. And perhaps the authors of the Apocalypse of Abraham understood the patriarch’s vision of Leviathan as a sort of anti-theophany, a revelation of the underworld’ ruler. This possibility looms large in light of other features of the visionary arrangement, espe- cially when the seer beholds the lowest point of the universe from its highest point, namely, God's throne in the upper heavens. This correlation between the lowest and the highest points with their corresponding “theophanies” is hinted at also in Apoc. Ab. 10, where one finds a curious juxtaposition of the Hayyot, the theophanic “animals” of the upper realm, and the controversial dwellers of the lower abode, the Leviathans, both ruled by Yahoel.* In view of such correspondences, it is possible that Leviathan’s domain may also be un- derstood in our apocalypse as a realm that has its own theophany. Leviathan’ role as the foundation of the universe, or its axis mundi, also contributes to the possibility of the monster's theophany since this func- tion puts Leviathan in direct correspondence with the upper foundation, represented by God’s throne, which in many Jewish accounts is envisioned as the theophanic axis of the upper realm, Additionally, in the Apocalypse of ‘Abraham both the upper and lower “foundations” reside in their respective cosmological “waters”—the upper, fiery waters that encompass the divine throne and the lower “watery” waters that surround the monster's realm. Furthermore, in Yahoel’s role as the stabilizing force over the lower axis mundi, represented by Leviathan, one can possibly see an early apocalyptic novrcouanca ex « (y)mbHan en x camry 4n(0)B(B)xb en M HeacTsa A(y)IDHHLA HOcb 4 OMPaBpAHA och u naunnania bir ux, V Oesnty 4 MYYEHME es H MIpeMCHORLHAR eR H Ex B HHO MOTSIGEHME Byuixn ty ope ut ocrposst eF0 u cKOTHL TO PHYO ero 1 TTeBowacpana X RePHAHNE eTO H TOKE ero ik nabuas ero i yeenenlyio HareKanyoIo wa HeTO M KONBGaHNA ero M YoeneMbiA PyuaHute ero PAM. Buti ry pEKBA sbiule ni HSM xpYE ab. H BD TY cay EeMS W HAORD eFO, HeTONHKC, cxojpitijoro pbky oT nero nt qyOMe ero H ysb(re) HHA Hore, K HPABAY MBIONEC. M BILE B HENS rum snc ut 11oKor” Philonenko-Sayar and Philonenko, LApocalypse dAbraham: Introduction, texte slave, traduction et notes, 82-84. 6 Apoc. Ab, 10:8~10 reads: “I am Yahoel named by him who shakes those which are with me on the seventh vault, on the firmament. Tam a power in the midst of the Ineffable who put together his names in me. | am appointed according to his commandment to ‘reconcile the rivalries of the Living Creatures of the Cherubim against one another, and teach those who bear him [to sing] the Song in the middle of man’ night, at the seventh hour, I am made in order to rule over the Leviathans, since the attack and the threat of every reptile are subjugated to me” Kulik, Retroverting ‘Slavonic Pseudepigrapha, 18. It is interesting that Leviathan praises God in Perek Shirah, like the Hayyot do in the Apocalypse of Abraham: “The Leviathan says, ‘Give thanks to God for He is good, because his kindness forever’ (71071 Ig? 79 31D 937 MN WN WPM?)4° SUPERNAL SERPENT counterpart to Metatron’s future role as the Prince of the World, an office well attested in the Hekhalot literature, where the great angel pleads before the Holy One for the stability and preservation of the world. Indeed, in the Apocalypse of Abraham, as in some other Jewish accounts, Leviathan is present not merely as a frightening earthly creature but as a pivotal otherworldly agent who has been endowed with its own realm and retinue.” In view of these features, we should now explore more closely Leviathan’s epiphany in the Apocalypse of Abraham and the background of such imagery in the biblical and rabbinic sources. In the beginning of our investigation of the Slavonic account, it should be emphasized that no other early Jewish witness depicts Leviathan as the entity upon which the whole universe resides so clearly as the Apocalypse of Abraham. Such an idea of the world’s foundation is almost exclusively attributed to God and his agents in early Jewish texts, and this theme is often conveyed through the imagery of the deity’s throne, which is estab- lished already in the beginning of creation as the ultimate guarantor of the universe's stability.8 In our text, however, these divine functions are now transferred to an antagonistic agent. As with the divine foundation, which is often placed in the primordial waters in early Jewish accounts, here, too, one encounters the lower foundation in the form of Leviathan in the midst 7 In this respect Tryggve Mettinger rightly points out that “Behemoth and Leviathan are not Hebrew’s appellatives for the hippopotamus and the crocodile. ... One gets the idea that these an- imals stand as symbols of the dark, chaotic side of existence” T. N. D. Mettinger, “The Enigma of Job: The Deconstruction of God in Intertextual Perspective,” JNSL 23.2 (1997) 1-19 at 12. ® See 2 Enoch 24:5-25:4 (the shorter recension): “And I thought up the idea of establishing a foun- dation, to create a visible creation. And I commanded the lowest things: ‘Let one of the invisible things come out visibly!’ And Adail descended, extremely large. And Ilooked at him, and, behold, in his belly he had a great age. And I said to him, ‘Disintegrate yourself, Adail, and let what is disintegrated from you become visible’ And he disintegrated himself, and there came out from him the great age. And thus it carried all the creation which I had wished to create. And I saw how good it was. And I placed for myself a throne, and I sat down on it” F. Andersen, “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch? in: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols. ed. J. H. Charlesworth; New York: Doubleday, 1983-1985) 1.143-145; Hekhalot Rabbati §98: “King of miracles, King of mighty acts, King of wonders, King of explications, Your throne flies from the hour that You inserted the peg of the weaving of the web that completed the world and plaited it” J, R, Davila, Hekhalot Literature in Translation: Major Texts of ‘Merkavah Mysticism (S)JTP, 20; Leiden: Brill, 2013) 60; Hekhalot Rabati §201: “Son of majestic ones, ifnnot, stand and bring before me all the mighty men of the association and all the magnificent ones of the academy and will recite before it the mysteries, the things made secret and preserved, won- ders, and the weaving of the web that isthe completion of the world and upon it its extolment stands, the axle of heaven and earth, on which all the extremities of the earth and inhabited world and the extremities ofthe firmaments on high are tied, sewn, fastened, suspended, and stand. And the way of the ladder on high is that its one end is on earth and its other end is on the right foot of the throne of glory" Davila, Hekhalot Literature in Translation, 100-101. For discussion of these traditions, see A. P. Hayman, “The Dragon, the Axis Mundi, and Sefer Yesira $59," in: “He Unfurrowed His Brow and aap Essays in Honour of Profesor Nicolas Wirt (ed. W.G. E. Watson; Minster: Ugai-Verlag, 140 at 119,LEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY 5 of the primordial, watery substance. This might again suggest that the monster's abode could be envisioned as a lower counterpart of the divine Kavod, a possibility that looms even larger in view of the aforementioned correspondence between the Leviathans and the traditional “holders” of the divine Seat—the Hayyot.? With respect to the possible role of Leviathan as a representation of the lower kavod, it is also significant that some Jewish and Christian accounts portray the divine Kavod as surrounded by cosmological waters. We can de- tect such tendencies both in the Hebrew Bible and in Jewish pseudepigrapha. Ezekiel’s portrayal of the eschatological temple found in the final chapters of this prophetic book, for instance, already attests to this symbolic peculiarity by linking the abode of the divine Kavod to the imagery of the living stream, which designates the primordial or paradisal waters. Gregory Beale notices’ that similar sacerdotal imagery of the primordial waters is present also in the description of Yahweh's temple in Ps 36:8-9. The motif of sacred waters, then, occurs in various Jewish extra-biblical accounts, including the Letter of Aristeas 89-91} and Joseph and Aseneth 2.13 Christian materials also seem to associate the theme of flowing waters with the divine Kavod. Such symbolism ® In this respect itis intriguing that some later traditions reinterpret the primordial monsters as the retinue of the divine Presence. Fishbane notes that R. Bahye b. Asher, who lived in the thir- teenth century in Spain, interprets the sea serpents in the following way: “these creatures refer to the ‘four camps (of angels) that are exterior to the Shekhinah of the Holy One, blessed be He—to glorify and exalt Him with songs and praises?” M. A. Fishbane, Biblical Myth and Rabbinic Mythmaking (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) 273, °° G,K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’ Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God (NSBT, 17; Downers Grove, IL: Apollos, 2004) 72. 1! “They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights, For with you is the fountain of lifes in your light we see light” “There is an uninterrupted supply not only of water, just as if there were a plentiful spring rising naturally from within, but also of indescribably wonderful underground reservoirs, which within a radius of five stades from the foundation of the Temple revealed innumerable channels for each of them, the streams joining together on each side, All these were covered with lead down to the foundation of the wall; on top of them a thick layer of pitch, all done very effectively. There were ‘many mouths at the base, which were completely invisible except for those responsible for the min- istry, so that the large amounts of blood which collected from the sacrifices were all cleansed by the downward pressure and momentum, Being personally convinced, 1 will describe the building plan of the reservoirs just as I understood it. They conducted me more than four stades outside the City, and told me to bend down at a certain spot and listen to the noise at the meeting of the wa- ters, The result was that the size of the conduits became clear to me, as has been demonstrated” R. J.H. Shutt, “Letter of Aristeas” in: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols.; ed. J. H. Charlesworth; ‘New York: Doubleday, 1983-1985) 2.7-34 at 218-19, > A similarimage of overflowing water that surrounds the Temple courtyard is found in Joseph and B. Sukkah 51b, likewise, suggests that the white and blue marble of the temple walls were reminis- cent of the waves of the sea.'¢ In light of these traditions, the “molten sea” of the Jerusalem Temple is often interpreted as the cosmological waters that en- compass the divine Presence.!” These conceptual developments indicate that the domains of the divine Kavod, represented respectively by the heavenly and earthly sanctuaries, were encompassed by the primordial waters in early Jewish lore. ‘The imagery of the Kavod’s cosmological waters often finds its expres- sion in the symbolism of the fiery waters of the divine realm. One can find such correspondences also in the Apocalypse of Abraham. In Apoc. Ab. 17:1, during Abraham and Yahoel’s ascent to God's throne, they behold the fire of the upper abode, which is described “like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the sea in its uproar”!® One might detect in this imagery of the \ “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city” '5 “His offering was one silver dish, etc. The dish was in allusion to the court which encompassed the Tabernacle as the sea encompasses the world” Midrash Rabbah (ed. H. Freedman and M. Simon; 10 vols; London: Soncino, 1961) 6.546, Concerning a similar tradition in Midrash Tadshe, see G. ‘MacRae, Some Elements of Jewish Apocalyptic and Mystical Tradition and Their Relation to Gnostic Literature (2vols.; PhD diss; University of Cambridge, 1966) 55. '© “The reference is to the building of Herod. Of what did he build it?—Rabba replied, Of yellow and white marble. Some there are who say, With yellow, blue and white marble. The building rose in tiers in order to provide a hold for the plaster. He intended at first to overlay it with gold, but the Rabbis told him, Leave it alone for it s more beautiful as it is, since it has the appearance of the waves of the sea.” I Epstein, The Babylonian Talmud. Sukkah (London: Soncino, 1935-1952) 51b. "” 1 Kgs 7:23~25 relates the following tradition: “Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. Under its brim were gourds, for thirty cubits, compassing the sea round about; the gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. It stood upon twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing West, three facing south, and three facing east; the sea was set upon them, and all their hinder parts ‘were inward.” See also 2 Rgs 16:17; 2 Kgs 25:13; 1 Chr 18:8; 2 Chr 4:2; Jer 52:17. Elizabeth Bloch- Smith observes that “the ‘great deep’ of chaos is most often cited as the underlying symbolism of the ‘molten sea.” E. Bloch-Smith, “Who Is the King of Glory?” Solomon's Temple and Its Symbolism,” in: Scripture and Other Artifacts, Essays on the Bible and Archeology in Honor of Philip J. King (ed. M, Coogan etal; Louisville: Westminster, 1994) 19-31 at 20, '® Kulik, Retroverting Slavonic Pseudepigrapha, 22.LEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY 7 upper sea a curious correspondence between the upper, fiery waters of the divine abode and the lower sea of Leviathan. Like God, who rests on the upper, fiery waters, Leviathan dwells on his own cosmological sea and rivers. The tradition of the upper divine waters comes to its apex in Apoc. Ab. 18:2, where the deity’s presence is described as the sound of the sea: “And I heard a voice like the roaring of the sea, and it did not cease because of the fire.”!? One may detect in such portrayals a possible background for un- derstanding Leviathan’s abode as a theophany since only a few chapters later the monster himself will be surrounded by the lower cosmological waters. Such correspondence between the fiery waters of the divine realm and the waters of Leviathan’s abode is not unique to the Apocalypse of Abraham, but can be found also in later Jewish materials. Indeed, in some of these accounts, Leviathan even becomes associated with the fiery waters of God's presence. William Whitney points to an example of this unusual association in a later midrashic text called Aggadat Shir ha-Shirim, which contains the following passage about Leviathan and the fiery rivers of the Shekhinah: “Its flashes are flashes of fire, a flaming fire! Oh!” (Cant 8:6). The adornment of Israel is about to come forth like fire from under the throne of glory. As it is said, “And the light of Israel will become a fire and its holiness, a flame, etc.” (Isa 10:17). R. Hananyah, nephew of R. Yehoshua said, “There are rivers of fire which flow in front of the Shekhinah like rivers of water and they are mingled with fire. And when authority was given to Gabriel to burn the whole army of Sennacherib, authority was given to Leviathan to destroy all the rivers.” The curious detail of this passage is the phrase “authority was given to Leviathan to destroy all the rivers (NII7IN79 NX an? jn? Miws mIN’3)”2 Reflecting on this enigmatic assignment, Whitney points out that “though the significance of Leviathan’s destructive action is not clear, his association with rivers is striking. The immediate context is somewhat confusing. It may 9 Kulik, Refroverting Slavonic Pseudepigrapha, 24, 2 K. W. Whitney, Jr., Two Strange Beasts: Leviathan and Behemoth in Second Temple and Early Rabbinic Judaism (HSM, 63; Winona Lake, IN: Fisenbrauns, 2006) 11147. Whitney’s nuanced and thorough study is one of the books that inspired the current investigation, My project, however, is different from Whitney's as it attempts to uncover the epistemological dimension of the Leviathan tradition by concentrating on the special role Leviathan's “mysteries” played in apocalyptic and later Jewish mystical accounts. 21 Agadath Shir Hashirim (ed, 8. Schechter; Cambridge: Deighton Bell, 1896) 45.8 SUPERNAL SERPENT be that the rivers are to be identified with the rivers of fire which ‘flow in front of the Shekhinah:””? Another “theophanic” aspect of Leviathan’s portrayal in the Apocalypse of Abraham involves his placement outside of the universe since the “universe” becomes literally heaped upon this primordial agent, a location that may hint at the special “transmundane” status of the monster. Indeed, this spatial ar- rangement might even intimate Leviathan’s pre-existence since in order to hold up the cosmos he must have been created before everything else. Such settings are strikingly reminiscent of the divine throne’s function since it becomes the foundation of the entire creation in some early Jewish accounts, including 2 Enoch. Furthermore, as has already been noted, the “holding up” of the world is often envisioned in Jewish tradition as a divine function. In later Jewish mys- tical lore, the supreme angel Metatron, an embodiment of the divine Name, was traditionally understood as the force sustaining the world. These cosmo- logical functions were usually exhibited in Metatron’s role as the Governor or the Prince of the World (D1y71 1w)?3—an office already discernable in 2 Enoch* and further developed in Hekhalot mysticism, including the Sefer Hekhalot.*> Enoch-Metatron’s governance of the world includes not only administrative functions but also the duty of the physical “holding” of the world.?6 ‘The aforementioned features hint at Leviathan’s apparition as a theophany. ‘The question, however, remains as to how widespread the idea of Leviathan as a locus of theophany was in early and late Jewish lore. In order to answer this question, which will allow us to grasp better the theophanic symbolism of the Apocalypse of Abraham, we must now look more closely at some of its biblical and rabbinic expressions. ® Whitney, Two Strange Beasts, 111047. * ‘The term “world” (G?1Y) in the angelic title appears to signify the entire creation. Peter Schifer ‘observes that in rabbinic literature the Prince of the World is understood to be an angel who has been set over the whole creation. His duties include praying for the coming of the Messiah and praising God's creative work, P, Schafer, Rivalitit zwischen Engeln und Menschen: Untersuchungen zur rabbinischen Engelvorstellung (SJ, 8; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1975) 55. * On the role of Enoch as the Governor of the World in 2 Bnoch, see A. A. Orlov, The Enoch- ‘Metatron Tradition (TSAJ, 107; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006) 159-161. ® Igor ‘Tantlevskij observes that in 3 Enoch 8, Enoch-Metatron has qualities by which, according to . Hag. 12a and Avot de Rabbi Nathan A 27:43, the world was created and is sustained. I. R. Tantlevskij, Knigi Enoha (Moscow/Jerusalem: Gesharim, 2000) 185 (Russian). °* Investigating this motif in Jewish lore, Moshe Idel points to the treatise The Seventy Names of Metatron where Metatron and God seize the world in their hands. M. Idel, Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism: Pillars, Lines, Ladders (Past Incorporated, CEU Studies in Humanities, 2; Budapest: Central European University Press, 2005) 88.LEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY 9 1,2 Leviathan’s Theophany in the Book of Job Chapters 40 and 41 of the Book of Job provide one of the most extensive accounts of Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible. In this lengthy portrayal of the monster, one can find his unusual qualities, some of which may have theophanic significance. As in the Apocalypse of Abraham, one can detect in the Book of Job a striking parallelism between the monster and the deity.”” Speaking to this reality, Carol Newsom suggests that in Job “there is a curious level of identification between God and Leviathan. God represents himself as being in the image of Leviathan, only more so. Indeed, as has often been pointed out,”* the physical description of Leviathan is uncannily evocative of the theophanic descriptions of God?” Several details about Leviathan’s depiction in the Book of Job appear to convey theophanic symbolism. We can detect such a tendency not only in the book’s portrayal of the monster but also in the text's description of var- ious reactions to Leviathan. Namely, these reactions are determined by fear and terror. Such a response evokes certain biblical and pseudepigraphical accounts that report the dread of angels and humans as they encounter the divine Presence. Indeed, fear is a common emotion found in early Jewish theophanic accounts when visionaries encounter a divine or angelic man- ifestation.*° Early Pentateuchal stories contain references to the fear that 7 On Behemoth and Leviathan as symbols for God, see J. Williams, “The Theophany of Job; in: Sitting with Jobe Selected Studies in the Book of Job (ed. R. Zuck; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1992) 359-372 at 370; J. Lévéque, “L'Interpretation des discours de YHWH (Job 38,1~42,6)," in: The Book of Job (ed. W. A. M. Beuken; BETL, 114; Leuven: Peeters, 1994) 203~212 at 217-218; J. Walton, Job (NIVAC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012) 409-413; W. Brown, Wisdoms Wonder: Character, Creation, and Crisisin the Bible’ Wisdom Literature (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014) 118; E, N, Ortlund, Piercing Leviathan: God's Defeat of Evil in the Book of Job (NSBT, 56; London: Apollos, 2021) 132-133. 2 Corrine Patton suggests that “Job sees that chaos (Leviathan, suffering) isa divine attribute, even ifitis unjust or illogical. As a divine attribute, and as evidenced in the form of the text, such recogni- tion includes the recognition of the beauty of that which is otherwise abhorrent, such as Behemoth and Leviathan, ... What does the text say about the relationship between divine and human realms? It seems to assert that there is a parallel between humans and suffering, and God and chaos.” C. L. Patton, “The Beauty of the Beast: Leviathan and Behemoth in Light of Catholic Theology” in: The Whirlwind; Essays on Job, Hermeneutics and Theology in Memory of Jane Morse (ed. S. L. Cook et al.; JSOTSS, 336; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001) 142-167 at 165-166. 2 C. Newsom, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) 251. On the symmetry between God and Leviathan, see also T. Beal, Religion and Its Monsters (London: Routledge, 2002) 29; R. Kearney, Strangers, Gods, and Monsters: Interpreting Otherness (New York, Routledge, 2002) 35; E. Mason, Fearful Symmetry: The Relationship between Leviathan and Yahweh as Seen Through the Lens of Monster Studies (MA thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2016) 116-146. On fear as a human response to theophany, see J. C, VanderKam, From Revelation to ‘Canon; Studies in Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature (Leiden: Brill, 2000) 343; J. Becker, Got im Alten Testament (AnBib, 25; Rome: St. Martin's Press, 1965) 22.10 SUPERNAL SERPENT otherworldly realities instill in humans. For example, immediately after Adam's transgression, Genesis 3 reports his fear regarding God’s visitation to the garden.*! The Book of Genesis also recounts the fear of Abraham and Jacob during their encounters with divine and angelic manifestations.>? The fear of the visionary also becomes a prominent motif in prophetic and apoc- alyptic accounts in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the book of Daniel? The seer’s fear is also invoked in the story of the most prominent visionary of the Hebrew Bible, Moses, who had several special encounters with the deity. We first hear of Moses’ fear early in the prophet’s visionary career during his first meeting with an otherworldly reality in Exod 3:6. This motif of the seer’s fear was not forgotten in extrabiblical Jewish literature, including early Enochic writings. Already in one of the earliest Enochic booklets, the Book of the Watchers, the reader learns about the fear of the seventh antediluvian pa- triarch as he approaches the divine Presence. Chapter 14 of this early Enochic work portrays the seer’s entrance into what seems to be the heavenly temple, a very special topos of God that is terrifying not only to human beings but also to the celestial creatures.** During this encounter, Enoch is not simply frightened by his otherworldly experience, he is literally covered with fear. 31 Gen 3:10: “He said, [heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because Twas naked; and [hid myself.” 32 Gen 15:1 “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, Lam your shields your reward shall be very great’ Gen 28:16-17: “Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” » See, for example, Dan 8:17-18: “So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I became frightened and fell prostrate, But he said to me, ‘Understand, O mortal, that the vision is for the time of the end As he was speaking to me, I fell into a trance, face to the ground; then he touched me and set me on my feet’; Dan 10:7-9: “I, Daniel, lone saw the vision; the people who were with me did not see the vision, though a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone to see this great vision. My strength left me, and my complexion grew deathly pale, and retained no strength. Then Iheard the sound of his words; and when [heard the sound of his words, | fell into a trance, face to the ground.” % xod 3:6: “He said further, ‘am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God” *© 1 Enoch 14:9-14 offers the following report of the seer's progress into the celestial sanctuary: “And 1 proceeded until I came near toa wall which was built of hailstones, and a tongue of fie surrounded it, and it began to make me afraid. And I went into the tongue of fire and came near to a large house which was built of hailstones, and the wall of that house (was) like a mosaic (made) of hailstones, and its floor (was) snow. Its roof (was) like the path of the stars and flashes of lightning, and among them (were) fiery Gherubim, and their heaven (was like) water. And (there was) a fire burning around its wall, and its door was ablaze with fire. And I went into that house, and (it was) hot as fire and cold as snow, and there was neither pleasure nor life in it. Fear covered me and trembling took hold of me. And as I was shaking and trembling, I fell on my face.” M. Kaibb, The Ethiopic Book of Enoch: A New Edition in the Light of the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragments (2 volss Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978) 2.98. % Scholars have previously noted the unusual strength of these formulae of fear. For example, Job Collins notes the text’ “careful observation of Enoch's terrified reaction.” J]. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 55.LEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY 11 For our study, it is important that the Book of Job describes the feelings of fear and terror that humans and celestial citizens experience when they en- counter Leviathan. Thus, from Job 41:17(25E) we learn that, when Leviathan raises itself up, the “divine beings” (0°YN) are afraid (1112”).7 Here, not merely mortals but even the dwellers of the upper realm, possibly angels, are unable to withstand Leviathan’s presence. Such a situation is reminiscent of the frightened reactions of the angelic hosts who participate in the divine lit- urgy before God’s throne. Another important facet of Leviathan’s perception by its beholders involves a reference found in Job 41:6(14E) where one learns about the “terror” (71°X) that is provoked by Leviathan’s appearance. Reflecting on this Hebrew terminology, Habel notes that the terror (7170”X) “refers else- where to that terrifying force which emanates from God's presence and pettifies his opponents. Job was afraid that he would be overwhelmed by El’s ‘terror’ should he actually show his face (see on 9:34; 13:21). If Job cannot face the ‘terror’ of Leviathan, how can he face Yahweh? .. . The ‘terror’ which hovers around Leviathan’ teeth is matched by an even more frightening fury which burns within him.’ Habel’s research, thus, points to the theophanic significance of the terror that the monster instills in his spectators. Another relevant feature of the Book of Job is the reference to the mys- terious “elim” (0°), mentioned in 41:17(25E) and presumed in 41:1(9E), who are depicted as the recipients of Leviathan’s vision. Translators usually render this term as “gods,” “divine beings, “mighty ones,” or “angels”? Day ” The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew renders the Hebrew verb "i as “to fear” D. J. A. Clines, ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (8 vols.; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995) 2.336. % N.C. Habel, The Book of Job: A Commentary (The Old ‘Testament Library; Philadelphia: ‘Westminster, 1985) 572. Further, reflecting on Job 41:14-17(22-25E), Habel notes that “the terrifying character of Leviathan is here intensified. Not only is he ferocious when roused (v. 10E), surrounded by ‘terror (v. 14E), and fuming with great flames of fire (vs. 18-21E), but his terrible majesty is so awesome that even gods cringe before him (V. 258). The image of dread’... dancing before his face is reminiscent of ‘pestilence’ and ‘plague’ going before Yahweh's face when he appears in majestic fury (Hab 3:5), The term for Leviatharis ‘majesty’ is the sameas that Job used to refer to the majestic presence of God, which he claimed would terrify the friends in court (13:11). Gods being terrified at the presence of another mighty deity is a common mythological motif. When the messengers of Yam, the god of chaos, deliver his demands to the council of El, the gods are cowed. Baal then rebukes them with the words: Why have you lowered your heads on to your knees, and on to your princely seats? I see, gods (elim), that you are ‘cowed at the harsh demands of the messengers of Yam" Habel, Book of Job, 572-573. 8 Yet, Job 41:17 (LXX) renders it in the following way: “And when it turns, fear takes hold of the quadrupeds jumping upon the earth (atpapévroc 6 abtod g6Boc Onpioic texpdmoary nl yiI¢ AdAouévore).” J. Ziegler, Job: Septuaginta. Vetus Testamentum Graecum Auctoritate Academiae Scientiarum Gottingensis editum (X1/4; Gattingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982) 405. Reflecting on this rendering, Mark Sneed points out that “according to the demonstrated theologically con- servative tendency of the LXX translator, a possible reference to the gods becoming afraid before Leviathan in the MT (41:17) (At its rising, the gods are overwhelmed; by reason of consternation,12 SUPERNAL SERPENT points out that “Aquila, Symmachus, the Targum, and the Peshitta render elim as ‘mighty ones, whilst the Vulgate has angeli.”*° The use of this word may evoke certain theophanic currents as it might indicate that Leviathan’s habitat, in fact, could be somehow related to the otherworldly realm where celestial beings can behold him and maybe even give obeisance to him. Such a possibility may be hinted at in Job 41:1(9E), which claims that “any hope of capturing it [Leviathan] will be disappointed; were not even the gods (elim)*! overwhelmed at the sight of it?” In his attempt to grasp the meaning of this verse, Marvin Pope suggests the following: The picture of God and/or the gods prostrated with fear recalls this motif which is elaborated repeatedly in the Mesopotamian Creation Epic. Of the monsters Tiamat created, it is said “he who beholds them shall perish ab- jectly” When Anu saw Tiémat and her cohorts, he could not face her and when he reported the situation to his father Anshar: speechless was Anshar as he stared at the ground, hair on edge, shaking his head at Ea. All the Anunnaki gathered at that place; their lips closed tight, [they sat] in silence, “No god” (thought they) “can go [to battle and], facing Tiamat, escape (with his life]”’.. . The Ugaritic myth of Baal’s conflict with the sea-god also presents a parallel to this motif. The sea-god sends his fierce messengers be- fore the divine assembly with the demand that they surrender Baal whom they are harboring: When the gods saw them, saw the messengers of Sea, the emissaries of Chief River, the gods lowered their heads on top of their knees, even on their princely thrones.” they are beside themselves.) is removed by the LX (41:16) ‘And, at its turning over, there is terror for the quadrupeds leaping around upon the earth). This, of course, would fit Jewish piety at the time with its enhanced sense of strict monotheism” M. R. Sneed, Taming the Beast; A Reception History of Behemoth and Leviathan (Studies of the Bible and Its Reception, 12; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2022) 91. lam grateful to Mark Sneed for sharing with me proofs of his book when it was still unpublished, *° }, Day, God's Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea (UCOP, 35; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985) 71. “' Marvin Pope, following T. K. Cheyne and others, emends él to élim in his translation of Job 41:25, by noting that “the Masoretes have obscured the sense of the line by vocalizing the word , ‘God: or the proper name ‘El’ as the preposition é/, ‘unto’... Cheyne's emendation of él to elim is very probable” M. H. Pope, Job: A New Translation with Introduction, Notes and Commentary (AB, 15; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965) 336, “* Pope, Job, 337. On the ancient West Asian parallels to the gods’ fear see also L. G. Perdue, Wisdom in Revolt: Metaphorical Theology in the Book of Job (JSOTSS, 112; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991) 23007.LEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY 13 ‘The Mesopotamian traditions, listed by Pope, are indeed helpful for an un- derstanding of the Book of Job’s traditions as they elucidate some details of the protagonist's submission before antagonistic figures. Job 41:17(25E) may also entertain a possibility of angelic obeisance. The passage tells that “when it [Leviathan] raises itself up the gods (0”X) are afraid (171)”); at the crashing they are beside themselves.” Pope notes that the text is in good order and crystal clear. The cowering of the gods is a common mythological motif. In the account of the deluge in the Gilgamesh Epic, the gods were frightened and cowered like dogs against the wall of heaven. . . . In the Mesopotamian Creation Epic, the gods are given to vi- olent display of emotions, fear, distress, anger, joy. The Ugaritic gods are also highly excitable. Mere anticipation of trouble is enough to throw the goddesses Asherah and ‘Anat into a hysterical dither. The whole assembly of the gods, except the hero Baal, hide their faces on their knees from fear of Prince Sea's fierce emissaries, Even the doughty Baal is betimes seized with fear. It is not surprising that this raw bit from heathen myth should be found troublesome. This item is further proof of the mythological character of the monster who can throw the gods into panic. ’Elim’s response to Leviathan’s apparition brings to mind the angelic reaction to God's theophany in various biblical and extra-biblical accounts. In Isaiah's vision, for example, the seraphim cover their faces before God's Presence.# The same motif plays a prominent role in the Hekhalot literature, about which James Davila observes: “the attending angels . .. must cover their faces to protect themselves from the divine radiance. Only then is it safe for God to uncover his face in this cosmic game of peekaboo.”*® Yet, Leviathan himselfis described in Job 41:25(33E) as a creature without fear (MM). Furthermore, even in God’s own words about the monster in the Book of Job, it is also possible to detect some theophanic overtones. Edwin Good suggests that Job 41:25 is perhaps “an admission that Yahweh, like the other ® Pope, Job, 344. 4 jguel_ "In the year that King Uzziah died, 1 saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty: and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six ‘wings: with two they covered their: faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ‘And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full ofhis ory” eS, Davila, Descenders to the Chariot: The People behind the Hekhalot Literature (JSJSS, 70s Leiden: Brill, 2001) 139,14 SUPERNAL SERPENT gods, has his moments of terror before his astounding monster.” He further notes that “the text does not say ‘the gods’. . . or ‘other gods’ .. . but just, in the abstract generality, ‘gods. . . . Surely no claim is implied that Yahweh is not a ‘god. "4° In reaction to Good's proposal, Abigail Pelham comments that “in contrast to the great multitude of scholars who read the Leviathan chapter as depicting God's control of Leviathan, Good seems to be unique in advancing the view that God himself may be overwhelmed by Leviathan’s power, a view which seems plausible to me.” An important cluster of theophanic details that pertain to Leviathan’s ap- pearance is subsequently unfolded in Job 41:10-13(18-21E), where the story depicts Leviathan as the one whose “sneezes flash forth light” The account further conveys that the monster's “eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. From its mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap out. Out of its nostrils comes smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. Its breath kindles coals, and a flame comes out of its mouth” ‘The first notable theophanic feature of this passage is that the text compares the monster’s eyes to “the eyelids of the dawn.” Later rabbinic traditions sometimes interpret this phrase as a reference to Leviathan’s luminous na- ture. B. Baba Batra 74b, for example, states the following: Our Rabbis taught: Ithappened that R. Eliezer and R. Joshua were travelling on board a ship. R. Eliezer was sleeping and R. Joshua was awake. R. Joshua shuddered and R. Eliezer awoke. He said unto him: “What is the matter, Joshua? What has caused you to tremble?” He said unto him: “I have seen a great light in the sea (072 "X71 717] TN)” He said unto him: “You may have seen the eyes of Leviathan, for it is written: His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning”48 The fire and smoke emitted by Leviathan in Job 41:11-13(19-21E) also de- serve our attention, Reflecting on these features, Pope”? and other scholars® “ E, Good, In Turns of Tempest (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990) 363-364. * A, Pelham, Contested Creations in the Book of Job (Biblical Interpretation Series; Leiden: Brill, 2012) 135 “ Epstein, The Babylonian Talmud, Baba Batra, 74b, © Pope, Job, 342. © Greenstein notes that “in the whirlwind speeches, God describes the Leviathan as a partial re~ flexion of himself, The Leviathan is described, among other things, with ‘torches running out of his mouth, fiery flames flaring out; smoke coming out of his nostrils... his throat burns with coals, a flame flashing out of his mouth (41:11~13). The description is familiar not from characterizations of the Leviathan but from the famous image of YHWH in Ps 18:9 (cf. 2 Sam 22:9): ‘Smoke rises in his nostrils, consuming fire from his mouth, coals burning forth from him: The Leviathan is inLEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY 15 remind us that similar theophanic symbolism is often used in the Hebrew Bible to describe the divine theophany.! One can find such a portrayal, for example, in 2 Sam 22:9, where, like in the case of Leviathan, smoke comes from God's nostrils and fire proceeds from his mouth.° Similar symbolic currents are also reflected in Psalm 18:8; “Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him? We can also find a further correlation in several ancient West Asian texts. Habel notes that the flames that issue forth from Leviathan’s mouth and the smoke that steams from his nostrils represent a widespread mythic motif. Gods, too, may display their inner strength by emitting fire, In the Babylonian Enuma Elish, fire blazes forth from the lips of Marduk when he first manifests his glory. .. . The messengers of Yam in the Baal myth flash forth fire when they make their appearance. ... Yahweh, too, when he appears in splendor to parade his majestic anger, sends forth “smoke” from his “nostrils” and devouring “fire” from his “mouth” (Ps 18:8). ‘Thus the fire emanating from Leviathan marks his character as a mythic or divine being, not an ordinary crocodile. Another important feature is the royal imagery utilized in the Book of Job to describe Leviathan. From Job 41:26(34E) we learn that the monster “is a king over all the children of pride? This designation of the monster, which presents him as a leader of negative agents, might not be a mere figure of speech. Habel suggests that in the Book of Job “Leviathan is king of chaos,* part an image of God.” E, L. Greenstein, “in Job's Face/Facing Job” in: The Labour of Reading: Desire, Alienation, and Biblical Interpretation (ed. F. Black, R. Boer, and E, Runions; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1999) 301-317 at 311. 5! Already Gunkel noticed these theophanic associations by noting that “Leviathan is described in 41:10-13 as a fire-breathing monster. , .. The feature is . . . specifically mythological. It is known in the (Old Testament from the theophanies of YHWH (eg. Psalm 18)” H. Gunkel, Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Eraand the Eschaton: A Religio-HistoricalStudyof Genesis land Revelation 12(tr.K. W. Whitney; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006) 32, On this, see also C.-G. Kang, Behemot und Leviathan: Studien 24 Komposition und Theologie von Hiob 38, 1~42, 6 (WMANT, 149; Gattingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017) 180-181; V. Kubina, Die Gottesreden im Buche Hib. Ein Beitrag zur Diskussion um die Einheit von Hiob 38, 1-42,6 (Ereiburger Theologische Studien, 115; Freiburg: Herder, 1979) 103. 52 2 Sam 22.9 reads: “Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.” 5° Habel, Book of Job, 572. Pope also points out that such symbolism is applied to Marduk in Mesopotamian texts by noting that in them “when Marduk moved his lip, fire blazed forth,” Pope, Job, 342. Si Debra Scoggins Ballentine rightly points out that the terms “chaos” is often laden with inac- curate and anachronistic connotations, D. Scoggins Ballentine, The Conflict Myth and the Biblical16 SUPERNAL SERPENT and “as king he ‘looks down on’ all who are ‘lofty’ beneath him.5> Royal attributes often figure prominently in divine theophanies in order to signal the power, dominion, and authority of God.°* Here in Job, such designations might also have theophanic meaning. Finally, the theophanic significance of Leviathan'’s armor, a descrip- tion that occupies a substantial portion of the Book of Job’s account of the monsters, also merits our attention. Scholars often see in Job’s portrayals of Behemoth and Leviathan some remnants of the divine warrior myth, in which a chaos monster is defeated by a divine figure.” While the features of the divine warrior myth have been given plenty of attention with respect to God’s profile, previous studies have often failed to discern the theophanic significance of Leviathan’ armor. Yet the portrayal of Leviathan’s impene- trable shell and scales, which are able to defeat any possible weapons, could also be envisioned in our text as theophanic attributes of the antagonistic di- vine warrior® This is how they were often understood in some ancient West Asian accounts.® Experts, such as Frank Moore Cross, have drawn attention ‘Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015) 186-189. Considering this, our usage of “chaos” wil be limited to few “poetic” metaphors that do not have any conceptual si ce, *° Habel, Book of ob, 574. 5 Leo Perdue notes that “beauty as well as power is a significant feature of Leviathan’s appearance. While the descriptions of Leviathan in art and language normally picture a terrifying, horribly ugly ‘monster, Yahweh uncharacteristically glories in the beauty of this divine being,” Perdue, Wisdom in Revolt, 230. °7 On the divine warrior motif, see P. D. Miller, The Divine’ Warrior in Early Israel (HSM, 5; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973); C. Kloos, Yhwh’ Combat with the Sea: A Canaanite ‘Tradition in the Religion of Ancient Israel (Leiden: Brill, 1986); M. Z. Brettler, “Images of YHWH the ‘Warrior in Psalms? Semeia 61 (1993) 135-165; T. R. Yoder Neufeld, Put on the Armour of God: The Divine Warrior from Isaiah to Ephesians (JSNTSS, 140; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997); M. Klingbeil, Yahweh Fighting from Heaven: God as Warrior and as God of Heaven in the Hebrew Psalter and Ancient Near Eastern Iconography (OBO, 169; Gdttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999); Ballentine, The Conflict Myth, 73-123, 5 Perdue notes that Leviathan’ “frame is likened unto a warrior’s armor, with an impenetrable hide of mail and rows of shields covering his back... . only Yahweh as Divine Warrior has the power to defeat Leviathan” Perdue, Wisdom in Revolt, 230. » On the Chaoskampf as theophany, see, among others, F. M. Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009) 14~ 177; Day, God's Conflict with the Dragon, 30, 105-108; A. Green, The Storm-God in the Ancient Near Fast (BJSUC, 8; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003) 15-84; J Jeremlas, Theophanie: Die Geschichte einer alttestamentlichen Gattung (WMANT, 10; Neukirchen-Viuyn, Neukirchener Verlag, 1965) 73-89; T. W. Mann, Divine Presence and Guidance in Israelite Traditions: The Typology of Exaltation (Johns Hopkins Near Eastern Studies; Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1977) 9#f; Miller, The Divine Warrior in Early Israel, 86, 107; Neufeld, “Put on the Armour of God”, 50ff; J. Niehaus, God at Sinai: Covenant and Theophany in the Bible and Ancient Near East (SOTBT; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995) 81-141; E.N. Ortlund, Theophany and Chaoskampf: The Interpretation of Theophanic Imagery in the Baal Epic, Isaiah, and the Twelve (GUS, 5; Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2010); M, Weinfeld, “Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds,” JANES 5 (1973) 421-425; Whitney, Two Strange Beasts, 42, 156-158; N, Wyatt, “Arms and the King: The Earliest Allusions to the Chaoskampf Motif and theirLEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY = 17 to the fact that, in the ancient West Asian Chaoskampf traditions, the motif of the divine warrior's battle against a chaos monster often coincides with his theophany when he “returns to take up kingship among the gods, and is enthroned on his mountain.” In this context, the primordial battle itself represents a battle of theophanies, often implied not only through the epi- phanic nature of the divine warrior’s tools of war but also through the sim- ilar nature of his opponents’ weapons.°! Furthermore, in this antagonistic pattern, certain theophanic attributes such as splendor, smoke, fire, or other features of the divine warrior and his enemy become “not just an attendant circumstance to the battle against chaos, but rather a weapon within that warfare.”®? 1.3 Leviathan’s Theophany in Later Jewish Accounts ‘The theophanic features of Leviathan and his domain were developed fur- ther in later rabbinic and Jewish mystical accounts.5? Often these later elaborations attempted to enhance certain features of Leviathan’s epiphany that were already hinted at in the Book of Job. Furthermore, later Jewish exegetes sometimes retranslated and reinterpreted familiar biblical passages in such a way that they revealed additional theophanic aspects of Leviathan’s story. One such striking reinterpretation is the rabbinic understanding of Job 41:22(30E), which is rendered by the NRSV as: “its {Leviathan’s] underparts are like sharp potsherds; it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.” Yet, some later Jewish exegetes, including Implications for the Interpretation of the Ugaritic and Biblical Traditions,” in: “Und Mose schrieb dieses Lied auf”: Studien zumt Alten Testament und zum Alten Orient. Festschrift flir Oswald Loretz ‘zur Vollendung seines 70 (ed. M. Dietrich et al.; AOAT, 250; Minster: Ugarit-Verlag, 1998) 834-847; N. Wyatt, Space and Time in the Religious Life of the Near East (BS, 85; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001) 95-113. © Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, 162-163. 1 Reflecting on Marduk’s weaponry, Eric Nels Ortlund notes that “the extended description of Marduk’s weapons in his fight with cosmic chaos includes thunderbolts, storm-winds, raging fire (with which he covers his body), the deluge, his chariot, as well as his accompanying warriors and radiant aura. ... The awesome radiance of the warrior storm-god is thus part and parcel of both his weaponry and of his recognition as king” Ortlund, Theophany and Chaoskampf, 97. © Ortlund, Theophany and Chaoskampf, 102. © ‘The popularity of Leviathan in later Jewish lore is stunning. Danielle Gurevitch has calculated that Leviathan “appears no less than 828 times in Talmudic discussions, in Aggadah midrashim (Jewish legends), in prayer books, in early and later commentaries, in the Kabbalah, in Zohar, and in Hasidic sources” D. Gurevitch, “Symbolism and Fantasy of the Biblical Leviathan: From Monster of the Abyss to Redeemer of the Prophets,” JSRI 10 (2014) 50-68 at51.18 SUPERNAL SERPENT Rashi, translate the Hebrew phrase WU *Yy prin THY wan IN Pnnp from Job 41:22(30E) in the following way: “Under him are rays ("117M) of the sun (07M / WM); where he lies is gold (717) upon the mire.”* This later interpretation of Job 41:22(30E) is not a product of rabbinic “imagi- nation,” but a tradition with very ancient roots. Already, for instance, the Septuagint renders the Hebrew term /1711 as “gold” in its translation of Job 41:22(30E): “h otpwpvi adtob dPeNoxor dkeic, nag 5 xpvOd¢ Baddaonc bn’ adtov Garep mMAdg apGONTO< (its bed is sharp points, and all the seas gold under it is like untold clay).”6° One can find a similar understanding in the Targum on Job 41:22(30B), which claims that Leviathan: “lies (on) pure gold (82°30 N37)! He is on it like clay”® These and similar interpretations of the biblical texts led to the cre- ation of additional semantic layers of Leviathan’s story, in which the appearances of the monster and his realm are enhanced with imagery of luminosity and glory. This association of the evil forces with the im- agery of gold, understood as a theophanic marker, will continue to play a prominent role in later Jewish testimonies, especially in the Book of Zohar, where the Other Side is repeatedly described as the “dross of gold,” “gold’s filth,” “gold’s waste-matter,’ or “gold’s refuse.”*’ These theophanic associations are also present in the aforementioned motif of Leviathan's “gold upon the mire” However, it is not only the details of the monster's realm that are further enhanced with theophanic symbolism, but also elements of his appearance. ‘Thus, for example, Pesikta de Rav Kahana (Sup. II.4)®* describes Leviathan’s skin as a type of shining gold that surpasses the splendor of the sun: © A.J. Rosenberg, Job: A New English Translation (New York: Judaica Press, 1995) 233. © Ziegler, lob, 406; A. Pietersma et al., New English Translation of the Septuagint (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) 696, °C. Mangan, The Targum of Job (The Aramaic Bible, 15; Collegeville, MN: Liturgical/ Edinburgh: Clark, 1991) 89; D. M. Stec, The Text of the Targum of Job: An Introduction and Critical Edition (AGAJU, 20; Leiden: Brill, 1994) 302, ©” On this, see G. Scholem, “Alchemie und Kabbala,” MGW (1925) 26-27, 371-372. I. Tishby, The Wisdom of the Zohar (3 vols. London: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1994) 2.460. “This passage belongs to one of the seven supplementary discourses that were added to Pesikta de ‘Rav Kahana by later editors. Although scholars usually date the core of Pesikta de Rav Kahana to the fifth century, the date of supplementary discourses cannot be established with certainty. For a discus- sion on the status and contents of these additions, see W. G. Braude and I. J. Kapstein, Pesikta de-Rab Kahana. R. Kahana’s Compilation of Discourses for Sabbaths and Festal Days (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1975) xiv. © Leviathan’ association with the sun was perpetuated in Jewish lore for millennia and can be found, for example, in Zohar 11.35b: “God said, ‘Let there be MN, lights, in the expanse of heaven! (Genesis 1:14). This is 1712 WM, elusive snake” D, C, Matt, The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (12vols.; Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003-2017) 4.157,LEVIATHAN’S THEOPHANY 19 Lest you suppose that the skin of the Leviathan is not something extraor- dinary, consider what R. Phinehas the Priest ben Hama and R. Jeremiah citing R. Samuel bar R. Isaac said of it: The reflection of the Leviathan's fins makes the disk of the sun dim by comparison (M7197 17 NINNIN DPODID 7170117273), so that it is said of each of the fins “It telleth the sun that it shines weakly” (Job 9:7). For the [Leviathan's] underparts, the reflections thereof, [surpass] the sun: where it lieth upon the mire, there is a shining of yellow gold (Job 41:22),7° Such comparisons bring to mind biblical and other ancient West Asian testimonies about otherworldly possessors of divine splendor. In these traditions, the theophanies of heavenly figures are often conveyed through solar imagery and through the symbolism of gold. These traditions also often use solar symbolism to describe the glory of Adam’s body before his trans- gression. For example, Lev. Rab. 20:2 preserves the following tradition: Resh Lakish, in the name of R, Simeon the son of Menasya, said: ‘The apple of Adams heel outshone the globe of the sun; how much more so the bright- ness of his face! Nor need you wonder, In the ordinary way if'a person makes salvers, one for himself and one for his household, whose will he make more beautiful? Not his own? Similarly, Adam was created for the service of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the globe of the sun for the service of mankind,” Similarly, the luminosity of Moses’ face after his encounter with the di- vine Glory is also often described with sun symbolism. Such a tradition appears in b. Baba Batra 75a: “And thou shalt put of thy honour upon him, but not all thy honour. The elders of that generation said: The countenance of Moses was like that of the sun; the countenance of Joshua was like that of the moon.””? Later Hekhalot tradition often uses solar imagery to describe 7B. Mandelbaum, Pesikta de Rav Kahana According to an Oxford Manuscript (2 vols; ‘New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1962) 2.455; Braude and Kepstein, Pesikta de-Rab Kahana, 467. The application of solar imagery to Leviathan is also hinted at in Qallir’s piyyut, ‘where the monster appears to be associated with the solar year. Jefimn Schirmann suggests that the 365 eyes that Leviathan has in Qallir’s piyyut correspond “without doubt to the number of the days of the year. J, Schirmann, “The Battle between Behemoth and Leviathan according to an Ancient Hebrew Piyyut in: Ha-Agademya ha-leummit ha-yisreelit lemaddaim, Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Jerusalem: Academy, 1967) 327-355 at 335. ”! Freedman and Simon, Midrash Rabbah, 4.252, ” Belleville remarks that “the implication [is] that the light of the moon is much inferior to that of the sun, and hence much deterioration had occurred in the transfer from Moses to Joshua.” L.20 SUPERNAL SERPENT another translated hero—Enoch-Metatron. ‘Thus, for example, Synopse §73, which speaks about Enoch-Metatron’s glorious face in connection with hig heavenly form, features this solar symbolism: J increased his stature by seventy thousand parasangs, above every height, among those who are tall of stature. I magnified his throne from the majesty of my throne. I increased his honor from the glory of my honor. I turned his flesh to fiery torches and all the bones of his body to coals of light. I made the appearance of his eyes like the appearance of lightning, and the light of his eyes like “light unfailing” I caused his face to shine like the brilliant light of the sun.” In the aforementioned stories of translated humans, the solar symbolism therefore signals the heroes’ possession of heavenly attributes that are remi- niscent of the luminous qualities of divine and angelic beings. Leviathan’s theophanic features are also conveyed through the motif of his body as building material for eschatological realities. According to some rabbinic passages, for instance, Leviathan’s luminous skin will be used either for the eschatological refashioning of Jerusalem's walls or for building taber- nacles for the elect in the last days.” B, Baba Batra 75a renders this theme in the following way: The Holy One, blessed be He, will in time to come make a tabernacle for the righteous (0°?"739 71310) from the skin of Leviathan . . . The rest [of Leviathan] will be spread by the Holy One, blessed be He, upon the walls of Jerusalem, and its splendour will shine from one end of the world to the other; as it is said: And nations shall walk at thy light, and kings at the brightness of thy rising,”> Belleville, Reflections of Glory: Paul's Polemical Use of the Moses-Doxa Tradition in 2 Corinthians 3.1- 18 (JSNTSS, 52; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991) 67. *® P, Alexander, “3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch;’ in: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. J. H, Charlesworth, 2 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1983-1985) 1,223-315 at 1.312; P. Schafer, Schliiter, M, and H. G, von Mutius, Synopse zur Hekhalot-Literatur (TSAJ, 2; Tibingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1981) 36-37, Nicolas Sed observes that “alors le Saint écorchera Léviathan et, de sa dépouille, fera une cabane, une tente de peau, qui sera en réalité un dais de gloire, sous lequel aura lieu le repas des justes” N. Sed, La mystique cosmologique juive (Etudes juives, 16; Paris: Editions de Ecole des Hautes Etudes en. Sciences Sociales, 1981) 210, 7 Epstein, The Babylonian Talmud, Baba Batra, 75a,